Resources

The SDGs offer a "major improvement" over their predecessors, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, this report by the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC) finds that of the 169 targets beneath the 17 draft goals, just 29% are well defined and based on the latest scientific evidence, while 54% need more work and 17% are weak or non-essential.

This report, The impact of climate change on the achievement of the post-2015 sustainable development goals, considers impacts on development over the next 15 years, under two scenarios for the 2015 climate change agreement: a high-ambition agreement and a low-ambition agreement. It looks at associated policies and levels of investment in mitigation and adaptation. The high-ambition scenario used is based on the UNFCCC aim to limit global warming to a 2°C increase on pre-industrial temperatures.

This Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. It also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom. We recognize that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.

On 4 December, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon informally presented an advance, unedited version of his synthesis report on the post-2015 development agenda to UN Member States. The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet, outlined a vision for Member States to consider carrying forward in negotiations leading up to the UN Special Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2015.

Water and sanitation, as absolute necessities for people, planet and prosperity, are at the very core of sustainable development. In embarking upon the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with a dedicated goal on water and sanitation, credible data is needed to underpin sector advocacy, stimulate political commitment, inform decision making and trigger well-placed investment towards optimum health, environment and economic gains.

Nutrition needs to figure prominently in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. This brief describes the multidirectional linkages between nutrition and the SDGs, argues for much more attention to nutrition among the goals, and encourages dialogue on how to apply best practices at scale to resolve the world's nutrition challenges as quickly as possible.

The new CESR policy brief, The Measure of Progress, explores how human rights should inform the selection of SDG indicators. The briefing draws on CESR’s rich experience of monitoring human rights, including in development contexts, as well as on other work in the field of human rights indicators.

This is one of several UNU-IAS projects focusing on sustainable development governance. The 3-year project Sustainability Transformation beyond 2015 aims to contribute to international discussions towards the establishment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the short term, and to propose policies and frameworks for a long-term transformation in human behaviour towards a sustainable society.